Social media can be a game-changer in the 12th five-year plan, say government officials

Just two days after the Prime Minister's Office made its debut on
popular video-sharing Web site YouTube, the Ministry of Information and
Broadcasting has launched itself on Facebook.

On Tuesday, the I&B ministry started a page on digitisation on the
social network. This follows a recent two-day training programme on
social media it held for forty of its officers at the Indian Institute
of Mass Communication, Delhi.

Clearly, the Ministry is putting its newly acquired skills to good
effect. At the Second National Community Radio Sammelan held recently,
I&B officials could be seen diligently tweeting and updating on
Facebook the proceedings of the meet.

It might have been a late adopter of the medium, but the Government is
certainly more than making up now. “The in-house thinking has undergone a
360 degree change and the I&B Ministry has realised that social
media can be a game changer in the 12th Five Year Plan,” a highly placed
government source told Business Line.

Approving the move, Mr Mahesh Murthy, marketing expert and founder,
Pinstorm, a search marketing firm, says, “The fast growth of the PMO
India ID on Twitter to over 60,000 followers has shown that modern India
wants to engage with its leaders.”

He says that till now the Congress and the UPA have been laggards when
it comes to social media. According to Pinstorm's India Influencer
Table, which is a ranking of influential Indians on social media, with
the exception of Mr Shashi Tharoor, the next four slots in the top list
are taken by opposition characters: Mr Subramaniam Swamy, Mr Narendra
Modi, Mr Sushma Swaraj and Jan Lokpal.

“After the current elections, the UPA will make a concerted effort to
reach out to the social media masses, which far exceed the mass of urban
TV viewers in the country already,” predicts Mr Murthy. “If anything,
we will see more social media usage by arms of the government and the
ruling party in the months to come,” he forecasts.

Indeed, that's already happening. Ms. Ambika Soni, Minister of
Information and Broadcasting, has initiated a coordination committee for
the convergence of all media, and asking for a more leveraged use of
social media. “In fact, the Press Information Bureau has plans to use
You Tube in big way to increase its reach,” a government source said.

Mr Pankaj Pachauri who recently took over as Communications Adviser to the Prime Minister, told Business Line,
“We are going to leverage the social media more and more in the coming
days. All departments of the government are working towards it.”

With the PMO now bent on “communicating with the people more through
videos” and Ministries' becoming visible on Facebook and Twitter, a
political observer commented dryly: “Soon, the United Progressive
Alliance may be titled United Tweeting Alliance.”

What will be the first thing you will post on the Indian Government's Wall?

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